MTN appoints Chapel Hill Denham to handle $5.23b listing in Nigeria

By Emmanuel Elebeke with agency report
ABUJA – South African telecoms giant, MTN has appointed Nigerian investment firm Chapel Hill Denham as lead issuing house for the initial public offering of its Nigerian business later this year.MTN-Office

Among the banks and brokers appointed by MTN include: Renaissance Capital, Rand Merchant Bank and Nigerian firm Chapel Hill Denham to work with global co-ordinators Citigroup and Standard Bank.

The company had earlier met with its bankers on Wednesday and held a presentation about MTN Nigeria for foreign and local analysts on Friday in Lagos.

According to a report, MTN is yet to decide what portion of the subsidiary to sell, as it aim to raise about $400m, or roughly 10% of the stock.

Recall that the company had in June 2016 agreed to the listing as part of a $1bn fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown by Nigerian authorities.

The fine was originally set at N1.4trillion which led to the resignation of MTN’s then CEO, the first full-year loss and a slump in the share price that has yet to be clawed back.

MTN rose 0.4% to R118.16 by 4.26pm in Johannesburg, reducing its loss in 2018 to 14%.

According to MTN’s financial statements, MTN Nigeria has 52-million subscribers and generated R36bn of revenue in 2017.

It made earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of R14bn.

MTN CEO Rob Shuter had earlier promised that the IPO will be finalized by the end of 2018.

Similarly, MTN is also selling shares of its Ghana unit, which has 19-million subscribers, in the capital, Accra and may list a 35% stake there for almost $800m.